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Monday, November 14, 2005

Sabina and the Loolapede

Fall's early sunsets and relatively mild weather gives us a chance for exploring after dark with the kids. Load up the flashlights and head out to see what you can find.

Tonights first miracle of nature, a millipede! I managed to get the millipede crawling on my hands, and transferred it to Sabina's hands. She was enthralled. "She's my best friend. I love her lots! She's so gentle." I had no idea that she would stay interested for so long, but she kept this thing crawling on her hands for about 20 minutes.

Until, the horror began. "Awww, she's so cute. Ahhh! It's crawling up my arm!! HELP!" Apparently, the millipede was only her best friend as long as it crawled in the Designated Petting Area between her wrists and fingertips. She dropped the millipede once, then picked it up again, and finally dropped it again after another sleeve excursion.

This gave us a dilemma. Apparently she really wanted to keep the millipede, but was too freaked out/tired/annoyed to hold it herself. I was not interested in holding the millipede, so I tried to explain.

"She's going home, I think maybe she has some babies to feed.""But I don't want her to go home. I don't like her anymore. I want to squish on her!""Let's not squish her. Let her go.""I don't like loolapedes. She's being mean to me."

Finally, the millipede had nearly escaped to the edge of the road, and Sabina lost enough interest that I thought we were home free. Unfortunately, the relationship ended as all vertebrate-invertebrate friendships must - with a shattered, oozing exoskeleton. Surprisingly, the death blow was not dealt on purpose by Sabina, but by a bumbling Calvin, intent on shining his light on a fern or some such.